2004 Employer Health Benefits Annual Survey

How fast are health care costs rising? Premiums rose 11.2% in the last year. That’s about five times as fast as overall inflation (2.3%) and wage gains (2.2%).

How are rising costs affecting employees? Fewer employers are offering health benefits, and the costs of those benefits have gone up – for employers and employees alike.

How are employees changing coverage and cost-sharing to address rising premium costs? A small percentage of employees are selecting consumer-directed health plans, which feature high deductibles and health savings accounts.

HRET and The Kaiser Family Foundation bring you all the details in our 2004 annual survey of employers.

Materials from the September 9th Survey Release

 Press Release
 HRET President, Mary Pittman's Remarks
 Web cast

2004 Annual Survey

 Survey Summary
 Costs and Trends

The HRET/Kaiser report is essential for understanding the realities of employer-based coverage:

  • Get a complete picture of the benefits and choices that employers across the nation are providing for their employees—with data segmented by industry, business size, region, and employee wage level.
  • Learn how much employers are paying for health benefits.
  • Identify prevailing trends… and employers’ plans to change.

Reliable information from a credible source:

  • Interviews with nearly 2000 employers.
  • 14 years of tracking and trending employer health benefits.

Easy-to-use:

  • Extensive charts and graphs.
  • Historical data from previous surveys.

Survey findings are based on a national random sample of 1925 interviews with human resources and benefits administrators from firms with three or more workers. The survey was conducted from January to May of 2004. The report includes detailed findings on premiums and cost increases, employee cost sharing, retiree health benefits, prescription drug coverage, health plan choice, changes employers are planning on making in the face of rising costs, and employers’ thoughts on many topics, including consumer driven health care.

To Order

A single complimentary copy of this report may be obtained from the Kaiser Family Foundation by calling (800) 656-4533, or from their website at www.kff.org. Multiple copies may be obtained from HRET by calling (800) 242-2626 (item number 097512), or at www.ahaonlinestore.org.